Beauty Marks Research Articles

Natural variation in Beauty Mark is associated with UV-based geographical adaptation in Gossypium species

BackgroundAnthocyanins, a class of specialized metabolites that are ubiquitous among plant species, have attracted a great deal of attention from plant biologists due to their chemical diversity. They confer purple, pink, and blue colors that attract pollinators, protect plants from ultraviolet (UV) radiation, and scavenge reactive oxygen species (ROS) to facilitate plant survival during abiotic stress. In a previous study, we identified Beauty Mark (BM) in Gossypium barbadense as an activator of the anthocyanin biosynthesis pathway; this gene also directly led to the formation of a pollinator-attracting purple spot.ResultsHere, we found that a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) (C/T) within the BM coding sequence was responsible for variations in this trait. Transient expression assays of BM from G. barbadense and G. hirsutum in Nicotiana benthamiana using luciferase reporter gene also suggested that SNPs in the coding sequence could be responsible for the absent beauty mark phenotype observed in G. hirsutum. We next demonstrated that the beauty mark and UV floral patterns are associated phenotypes and that UV exposure resulted in increased ROS generation in floral tissues; BM thus contributed to ROS scavenging in G. barbadense and wild cotton plants with flowers containing the beauty mark. Furthermore, a nucleotide diversity analysis and Tajima’s D Test suggested that there have been strong selective sweeps in the GhBM locus during G. hirsutum domestication.ConclusionsTaken together, these results suggest that cotton species differ in their approaches to absorbing or reflecting UV light and thus exhibit variations in floral anthocyanin biosynthesis to scavenge reactive ROS; furthermore, these traits are related to the geographic distribution of cotton species.

Old Wine in New Bottle: Lentigo Transplant for Beauty Spot Creation.

Melanocytic nevi especially on the face, neck, and chest are considered a sign of beauty since historic times. Since historic times and in various cultures, these nevi are associated with beauty and attractiveness, thus called beauty spots. Artificial beauty marks have been fashionable since the medieval era. it requires repetitive use easily making it a cumbersome process. Tattooed beauty marks by medical professionals or tattoo artists are commonly done but require frequent touch-ups with a risk of complications. So we came up with a very innovative technique of tissue grafting of an existing lentigines/melanocyte nevus to the desired site which gave a natural and permanent solution.

Becoming “Woke” Rightly Understood: Peter Lawler on Liberal Arts and the Human Soul in American Heresies and Higher Education

Becoming “Woke” Rightly Understood is an examination of Peter Augustine Lawler’s sometimes lighthearted, often ironic, and yet equally profound analysis of the current state of higher education. Lawler’s treatment is panoramic; it presents both the warts and beauty marks of higher education. The book itself is an example of the traditional goals of higher education. It forces readers to think by offering arguments for and against the liberal arts. Lawler is aware that people fully understand ideas if they work them out for themselves. His analysis wanders from pop culture to classical political philosophy with many stops in between. American Heresies and Higher Education forces readers to wonder, not only about higher education, but also about what is best for the human soul.

Increasing floral visitation and hybrid seed production mediated by beauty mark in Gossypium hirsutum.

SummaryHybrid crop varieties have been repeatedly demonstrated to produce significantly higher yields than their parental lines; however, the low efficiency and high cost of hybrid seed production has limited the broad exploitation of heterosis for cotton production. One option for increasing the yield of hybrid seed is to improve pollination efficiency by insect pollinators. Here, we report the molecular cloning and characterization of a semidominant gene, Beauty Mark (BM), which controls purple spot formation at the base of flower petals in the cultivated tetraploid cotton species Gossypium barbadense. BM encodes an R2R3 MYB113 transcription factor, and we demonstrate that GbBM directly targets the promoter of four flavonoid biosynthesis genes to positively regulate petal spot development. Introgression of a GbBM allele into G. hirsutum by marker‐assisted selection restored petal spot formation, which significantly increased the frequency of honeybee visits in G. hirsutum. Moreover, field tests confirmed that cotton seed yield was significantly improved in a three‐line hybrid production system that incorporated the GbBM allele. Our study thus provides a basis for the potentially broad application of this gene in improving the long‐standing problem of low seed production in elite cotton hybrid lines.

Beauty and the big business: A qualitative investigation of the development and implementation of the CVS Beauty Mark

Detrimental effects of retouched media imagery on body image among women have led to calls to increase transparency regarding the use of digital modification. CVS Health, a large US-based beauty retailer, announced in 2018 its intention to implement across its beauty department imagery two labels: a “Beauty Mark” label to indicate a retouch-free image, and a second label disclosing digital modification. The aim of the present study was to explore the motivations, facilitators, and barriers to its implementation. In-depth individual interviews (n = 11) were conducted with professionals involved in the conceptualization, development, artistic vision, and implementation of the initiative. Thematic analysis revealed three themes: (1) CVS’s perception that the campaign as a good fit; (2) the marketing of “empowerment” to generate profit as well as a desired outcome; and (3) desire to exemplify a value-driven company model and contribute sustainably to broader values such as diversity and body positivity. These findings may help to identify ways in which to create larger scale change within media imagery.

Tattoos: Demographics, Motivations, and Regret in Dermatology Patients.

Tattoos are very popular in today's world. Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine the demographics, the characteristics of tattoos, motivations for getting tattoos, tattooing practices and tattoo regret. This multi-centre, cross-sectional study was conducted among. 302 patients attending to the dermatology outpatient clinics and having at least one tattoo. A questionnaire form including all needed data about patients, tattoo characteristics and possible reasons for obtaining tattoos was designed and applied to all participants. Of 302 patients, 140 (46,4%) were females and 162 (53,6%) were men. The mean age was28,3 ± 8,1 years (min-max, 16-62) for all study group, 53% of participants (n = 160) had at least one tattoo involving letters or number, 80 participants (26%) stated regret for at least one of their tattoos, and 34 of them (42,5%) had their unwanted tattoo removed or camouflaged with a new tattoo. The most common reason for regret was 'not liking the tattoo anymore'. The most common motivations for having tattoos were 'to feel independent', 'to feel better about himself/herself' and 'to look good'. Women had higher scores than men regarding tattoo motivations of 'to be an individual' and 'to have a beauty mark'. Given the rates, tattoo regret is a significant issue and as motivations differ between genders, age groups and other demographic characteristics; tattoos are not just an ink or drawing on the body, but a tool for individuals to express themselves and to construct self-identity. Tattoos have deep symbolic meanings for emotions, and they may be a clue for behavioural patterns of individuals.

THE IMAGE OF A PIOUS CHRISTIAN IN THE OLD BELIEVERS’ HANDWRITTEN TEXTS OF THE 18TH–20TH CENTURIES

The article presents an analysis of Old Believers' handwritten texts, in which special attention is paid to the formation of the image of a pious Christian. These are didactic texts of various genres, which targeted primarily young people. During the period of Peter the Great's transformations, European fashion was rapidly replacing traditional clothing. External changes affected the inner, spiritual world of a person. The Old Believers’ preachers directed all their efforts to save their flock. Using the Holy Scripture books, the works of the holy fathers, as well as other authoritative works as sources, the authors of works on the Christian image placed the necessary accents and collected arguments in defense of tradition. The number of surviving versions of these works suggests their extreme popularity. Usually the narrative in them is based either on the principle of contrasting the images of fashionistas and those of pious Christians, or on the principle of the negative connotation of trendy clothes. In some collections, these texts are presented as part of thematic collections. Against their background, Timofey Andreev's essay “About newfangled clothing and wearing long hair” stands out. The article also analyzes the work of “The Monk Zacharias to his disciple Euphemia,” the short novel about “sacristy decoration,” visions and dreams of Danila Grigoriev, “About the Beauty of the Divitsa” and others. The authors condemn all fashionable innovations, referring to the authority of the holy fathers, cite various sources, and the experience of visionaries and martyrs for the faith as arguments. Special attention is heeded to the female image: the humble Christian is juxtaposed with the fashionistas. Any interference with natural beauty is condemned: adornment, cosmetics, hair curling and the use of the “beauty mark language,” which has spread throughout social circles in the 18th century. The listed works helped to maintain the authority of Old Believers' teachers, to transmit experience and traditions.

Beauty Mark: A Verse Novel of Marilyn Monroe by Carole Boston Weatherford

Reviewed by: Beauty Mark: A Verse Novel of Marilyn Monroe by Carole Boston Weatherford Elizabeth Bush Weatherford, Carole Boston Beauty Mark: A Verse Novel of Marilyn Monroe. Candlewick, 2020 [192p] Trade ed. ISBN 9781536206296 $19.99 E-book ed. ISBN 9781536214512 $19.99 Reviewed from digital galleys R Gr. 8-12 It's the evening of the birthday gala for President John Kennedy, and as superstar [End Page 56] Marilyn Monroe is sewn into her skin-tight evening attire in preparation for her breathy, eyebrow-raising rendition of "Happy Birthday," she recalls a lifetime of events that led to a moment that—like the rest of her rise to fame—would be callously misinterpreted by the press and public for decades to come. The nowlegendary story of Norma Jeane Mortenson's transformation from a child craving parental love and stability into a typecast dumb blonde sex goddess spins out in in fictionalized first-person verse. As readers speed through the compact biographical musings, they are periodically confronted with passages of arresting sensitivity and insight—"Mama was the moon,/waxing and waning between dark moods"; "But I wanted more than sizzle; I wanted steak"—and verses shaped into a variety of poetic forms; nearly transparent photographs, to be in two color in the bound book, background the poems and provide atmosphere. Weatherford judiciously sidesteps gossip surrounding Monroe's relationships with the Kennedy brothers, allowing her narrator to simply refuse to dish out the salacious tidbits she realizes everyone begs for. In a moving coda, Monroe considers what she has come to mean to her critics, documenters, family, and spectators: "Everyone knows Marilyn Monroe./But precious few know Norma Jeane./I'm not even sure I remember her anymore./I am a woman in search of myself." Reference resources, inventively cast as "A Found Poem of Headlines and Quotes," are appended. Copyright © 2020 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois

Acquired Beauty Mark?: New Black Macule on the Face

An otherwise healthy young female patient presented with a new asymptomatic black lesion on her left upper cutaneous lip that developed shortly after spending time in the garden. Clinical examination revealed a 4-mm well-circumscribed black circular macule without associated inflammation (Figure 1). Due to concern for an atypical melanocytic lesion, a punch biopsy was performed. Histopathologic examination disclosed full-thickness epidermal necrosis with an underlying band of neutrophilic inflammation with karyorrhexis (Figure 2).

Miescher nevus as devil's mark, but also as beauty mark.

Miescher nevus as devil's mark, but also as beauty mark.

Beauty marks: the Latinx surfaces of loving, becoming, and mourning

There are few conceptual frameworks for tarrying with racialized gendered Latinx surface beyond analyses of representation. One entry point could be the beauty mark, the made-up face, and objects/materials such as glitter, nails, and rolos (hair rollers) – those surfaces and things that bind me in memory to my grandmother, and, by extension, to other women in my family as well. This text enacts a performative and theoretical exploration of the ontological contours of femme Latinx beauty practice to craft a poetics about the relationalities, recognitions, and femme generations that these surfaces engender. It juxtaposes authoethnographic prose that conjures the body work of the author’s grandmother with analyses of cultural production by Latinx artists Patricia Zambrano, Mujerista Market (Salina Zazueta-Beltrán), @anythingforselenaaas, Zahira Kelly, and others to evoke how making beauty marks haunts us, makes us possible, and brings us together in becoming, love, and loss.

Book of the Generations

Book of the Generations Kelli Jo Ford (bio) Click for larger view View full resolution Beulah Springs, Oklahoma 1974 [End Page 145] 1 When Lula stepped into the yard, the stray cat Justine held took off so fast it scratched her and sent the porch swing sideways. Justine had been feeding the stray, hoping to find its litter of kittens in spite of her mother's disdain for extra mouths or creatures prone to parasites. She tried to smooth cat hair from her lap. She'd wanted everything to be perfect when she told her mom that she'd tracked down her father in Texas and used the neighbor's phone to call him. "That thing's going to give you worms." Lula dropped her purse onto the porch. She hadn't been able to catch a ride from work. With a deep sigh, she untucked her blouse and undid the long green polyester skirt she'd started sewing as soon as she'd seen the Help Wanted sign at the insurance office. She was a secretary now, and as she liked to tell Justine, people called her "Mrs." and complimented her handwriting. "I'll wash up," Justine said. She'd already decided today wasn't the day. Like yesterday. And the day before that. "At least let me say hi." Lula kicked off dusty pumps and let her weight drop into the swing beside Justine. The swing skittered haywire as Lula pulled bobby pins from her bun, scratching her scalp. Her long salt-and-pepper braid fell past her shoulder and curled under her breast. "Bless us, Lord," she said, the words nearly a song. She closed her eyes, and as she whispered an impromptu prayer, she touched the end of her braid to the mole on her lip that she still called her beauty mark. As a girl, Justine had pored over the pictures from Lula's time at Chilocco Indian School, trying to see her mother in the stone-cold fox who stared out from the old photographs. Lula's clothes hung loosely, even more faded than the other girls' in the pictures, but something about her gaze—framed by short black curls, of all things—made it seem as if she were the only one in the photo. If Marilyn Monroe had come of age in an Indian boarding school and had fierce brown eyes instead of scared blue ones, that would have been young Lula. Justine kept the old pictures in a box hidden in the top of the closet where she kept her Rolling Stones and a mood ring, other forbidden things. She hadn't thought of the pictures in ages, but she did now as she watched her mom in prayer. [End Page 146] Lula whispered "Amen," caught Justine staring at her. "Granny's out gathering wild onions with Aunt Celia," Justine said quickly. "Late in the year for it," Lula said. She unrolled her nylon stockings and wiggled her toes in the air. In the way of Cherokee women, Lula could still make you feel that she held down the Earth around her one moment and then seem almost like a girl the next. "Did you do your homework?" "I swept and did the rugs too." "My Teeny," Lula said, calling her the name that had stuck when Justine's middle sister hadn't been able to say her name. Together they pushed the swing back and let it fall forward. Justine closed her eyes. In the cool air that had come with the night's rain, her mother's warmth felt nice, which made the words she'd been practicing feel all the worse. "Evenings like this make me wonder how a body would want to set their bones anywhere other than these hills," Lula said. Justine opened her eyes. The two-bedroom house they rented with her Granny sat on the edge of Beulah Springs, the outer walls almost as much tar paper as asphalt shingle. She had her own room, now that her sisters had married themselves out of state, but her mother and Granny still split a room barely big enough for one. Hand-sewn curtains strung on...

Ode to the Penis, and: Unmatching Legs Ode, and: Wild Ode

Ode to the Penis, and: Unmatching Legs Ode, and: Wild Ode Sharon Olds (bio) Ode to the Penis Someone told me that what I writeabout men is objectifying. So I ask you,O general idea of the penis, do you mindbeing noticed? You who stand, in the mind—erect and not, old and young—for all your representations, O abstractprinciple, haven’t you maybe beenwaiting for your turn to be sung? I thinkyou’re lovely and brave, and so interesting, you arelike a creature, with your head, and trunk,as if you have a life of your own. But you areinnocent, you are not your own man,you are no more responsible for your actions,than the matter of the brain for its thoughts. And you’ve had a mixedhistory—you’ve been taken intocarnage, as the instrumentof it, and you yourself have been playedto produce the desperate screams. Oftenyou have not been protected, nor been used to protect,and oft not been respected, nor wieldedto respect. And yet most of your historyhas been spent in joy. And I wonder how ithas felt, being so adored as you have been,and feared. And what is it like, for you—if you couldlook down, from your Platonic cloudof categories—when two of youare engaged together, or married—yourselfprimed, yourself to your own power? [End Page 11] And being a concept, are you smart, do you knowyou’re equal to your sister concept,and even that you came from her,back at the invention of the separate male—the ovaries heavying down toward the earth,the organ of orgasm growing and growing.I cannot imagine you, from within—but as asage said of a god, I do not wantto be sugar, I want to taste sugar!But that’s just my heteromania talking,and you’re not homo or hetero—or visibleor manifest, you do not existexcept as an imaginary quorumof all your instances. So I’m notflirting with you, I’m just sayingI like you—not as an object buta subject, a prime mover, a workingtheory of plumbing and ecstasy,a boy’s pride and anxiety,windsock of zephyr and gale, halfof the equation of creation. Unmatching Legs Ode I don’t know why I am fairly cheerfulabout my unmatching legs. I am notcheerful about my foot-soles, which werelike two brains, reading the earth,and now have less than half their nerves, they are thenumbskulls to whom I trust my balance, theirsurfaces crinkled tinfoil made of rubber.But when I lie on the floor, on my back,and look up, at my lower limbs, thoselong feelers, I like them, even [End Page 12] though you cannot tell if the left iswithered or the right fat—the rightis swollen. When I was a young woman,I thought that the green line down the innercalf—the great saphenous vein—was a Nile beauty mark, and the way itrose, when I was carrying my first young, there wassomething weirdly cool how it fit between theledges of the gastrocnemiusand soleus, like a snake between twostrata of rock. So when I see the leg’s mass,I am almost proud of it, that it couldfit in it one and a half of its fellow.And the skinny leg, the original one,how can it be that I like the healedgouge on it, from the edge of the porchstair, when I fell upward, and the onefrom the corner fang of the truck door,they hold the places I’ve been, they are likepassport stamps from his kingdom. I have alwaysliked my legs, the way the double stem haslifted the big odd flower of me upand up. It’s as if I fell in lovewith them, when they and I began tolearn to walk together. The two of them werebest friends, who could press against each otherand feel the love, at...

“What do you think about having beauty marks on your—Hashek!”: Innovative and Impolite Uses of anArabic Politeness Formula amongFrench Teenagers

This article addresses howFrench teenagers of NorthAfrican (primarilyAlgerian) descent transform theArabic speech actHashekthrough their nontraditional and innovative uses. InFrench language interactions that involved adversarial teasing or public criticism of a peer,ArabFrench teenagers used the politeness formulaHashekas a self‐corrective to simultaneously facilitate and mitigate such irreverent behavior. In addition, teenagers usedHashekas an other‐corrective in order to publicly mark peers as inappropriate or rude. Thus both usages of the term (self‐ and other‐corrective) aid teenagers in achieving impolite, nondeferential speech. In usingHashekto accomplish impolite speech,French‐speaking teenagers of NorthAfrican background transform this traditionalArabic linguistic practice to suit the face‐needs of their adolescent peer group inFrance, while remaining in conversation with NorthAfrican interactional rituals and cultural norms.

Two Poems

12 worldliteraturetoday.org title photo : james walsh According to Index Days were never this long before. Their whiteness a lactose too difficult to dissolve. He dozes wherever he can. Gets upset only when lunch is not ready on time. Speaks a little less each day and moves from one sentence to the other without arguments as within a house without corridors between rooms. Yet, sometimes he asks questions like: “What did God have in mind when he made man?” Don’t answer: it’s a rhetorical question. He falls asleep like a book that drops from a hand. It is said that the most ordinary among us is a written book so huge, so high above that human eyesight cannot capture it. That’s where everything is recorded, what we’ve done, said, thought, felt, even what hasn’t happened yet. Who could imagine that in a body’s few square centimeters only one cell could contain so much space for history? He understands other people even less, including his wife that book with which he has lived, cover to cover, written in two different languages placed by chance on the shelf according to index. We need a third language to communicate. A language whose idioms and innuendos we don’t recognize. A camouflage of color to blend in with the surroundings of tone to conceal weakness and of temperature to shield against those that hurt us most (some preys are exposed by their own warmth). Now he is a closed book. No time to add or revise anything. All that remains Visit the WLT website to hear the author read “History Class” in Albanian and to read “Negative Space,” an additional poem. Winner of the Albanian National Silver Pen Prize in 2000 and the International Kristal Vilenica Prize in 2009, Luljeta Lleshanaku is the author of six poetry books in Albanian and three in English: Fresco: Selected Poems (New Directions, 2002), Child of Nature (New Directions, 2010), and Haywire: New and Selected Poems (Bloodaxe Books, 2011), a finalist for the 2013 Popescu Prize. An Albanian American poet and translator, Ani Gjika is author of Bread on Running Waters (Fenway Press, 2013). Her work appears in AGNI Online, Seneca Review, Salamander, Fishousepoems .org, and elsewhere. Two Poems Luljeta Lleshanaku editor’s pick November–December 2014 • 13 is touch, the touch between the leather covers the feeling he gets on elbows, knees, hair the laughter when his arms cross over her neck in a summer cinema while watching a movie under an open sky. History Class The front row desks were always empty. I never understood why. Second row was all smacking lips of those who recited lessons by heart. In the middle, were the timid ones who took notes and stole the occasional chalk. And in the last row, young boys craning their heads toward beauty marks on the necks of blond girls. I don’t remember the teacher’s name, the lab, or the names of the portraits on the wall, except the orthopedic irony clinging to his stumped arm like foam at the Cape of Good Hope. When his healthy arm would point out Bismarck, the hollow sleeve looked in an unknown direction. We couldn’t tell which of us was the target, which not, questioning this way even that minimal identity we already thought we owned. From his insatiable mouth flew out battle dates, names, causes. Never resolutions, nor winners, because we could hardly wait for the bell to write our own history those days when we knew roughly everything. But sometimes, his hollow sleeve was warm and human like a cricket-filled summer night waiting to land somewhere. On a valley or roof. It searched for a hero among us, not among the athletic or sparkly-eyed ones, but among those “stained” with innocence. One day, each one of us will be that teacher in front of a seventeen-year-old boy or girl with a beauty mark on her neck. And the desks on the front row will remain empty, suspicious like the stumped arm of history which makes the other arm appear omnipotent. Translations from the Albanian By Ani Gjika The Poetry Deal Diane...

Permanent Cosmetics

Plastic surgery practices have become more accepting of the implantation of permanent cosmetics over the last few years. Many plastic surgery practices have added the implantation of permanent cosmetics into their offered services. Many clients who would not have considered having permanent cosmetics implanted because of having to go to a tattoo parlor are now having the procedures performed. The most popular procedures being performed are the implantation of permanent eyeliner followed by eyebrows and lip liner. Other implantations of permanent cosmetics are the full-lip applications, eye shadow application, cheek blush, and a beauty mark implantation. Micro pigmentation can be used for nipple coloration following reconstruction or camouflaging skin pigmentation problems due to trauma, birthmarks, cancer, etc. This article focuses on the use of micro pigmentation for the use of permanent cosmetics (WebMD, 2009).

<i>Double Falsehood</i> (review)

Reviewed by: Double Falsehood Jennifer Hartshorn Double Falsehood Presented by the Atlanta Shakespeare Company at the New American Shakespeare Tavern, Atlanta, Georgia. June 3-12, 2011. Directed by Andrew Houchins. Assistant Directed by Amee Vyas. Fights by Drew Reeves. With Jonathan Horne (Henriquez), Nicholas Faircloth (Julio, Violante's Servant), Kelly Criss (Leonora, Maid, Shepherd), Mary Russell (Violante), Daniel Parvis (Duke Angelo, Master of the Flocks), Matt Felten (Roderick, Gerald), Jacob York (Don Bernardo, Shepherd), Clarke Weigle (Camillo, 1st Gentleman), and Jeff Watkins (Citizen). In spring 2011, Atlanta's New American Shakespeare Tavern performed Edward III, the last remaining play in the accepted cannon which they had not previously performed, making them one of the only companies in the world to stage every one of Shakespeare's plays. When they realized that the newly-accepted Double Falsehood was left out, they tacked on a production after the end of the regular Tavern season, which normally wraps up in May. The Tavern's company prides themselves on being an "original practice" playhouse, explaining on their website that original practice "begins with the way the play was originally staged in its own time and ends with a modern audience experiencing the play in a manner consistent with its creator's original intent." In accordance with this, the Shakespeare Tavern's sets are always minimal, sticking for the most part with a single configuration similar to that in the Globe Theatre (a balcony, an upstage area that can be curtained off or left open, etc.). The costumes are similarly built around a stock of existing pieces, all inspired by basic designs of the period from 1590 to 1610. Lighting is functional as opposed to evocative or dramatic. There are no "re-imaginings" of Shakespeare here, no alternate settings or interpretations; the company strives to present the audience with a reasonable facsimile of the playgoing experience of that time, adapted for a modern audience. As a result, there is never anything particularly novel or remarkable about the set or costumes, and this is by design; without these potential distractions, the audience is allowed to focus entirely on the story and the characters. But which "creator" are we talking about for Double Falsehood? Should it be played as if it were a Shakespeare play, contemporary with the rest of the canon? The text used as the basis for this production was the Arden edition, which traces its lineage to Theobald's 1727 production. As a [End Page 205] result, it makes sense to take a different approach in keeping with 1700s theatre, including changes in the way the characters are portrayed. And, in keeping with this, the main departure from the company's norm was the acting style, summed up in one word: melodrama. While all the performances were over the top, Jonathan Horne's Henriquez was cut from the same cloth as Snidely Whiplash and the moustache-twirling villains of the silent-screen era. This was no plain dealing villain like Don John; and the play does not even offer as thin a justification as "I hate the Moor" for his action. His costume was suggestive of Zorro, with a wide-brimmed black hat, an enormous red-lined black cape (which he flourished to great effect upon almost every entrance and exit), and a red rose in place of a saber in the scabbard at his waist. The rest of the cast followed suit, settling into their own respective caricatures as the dashing young hero, the poor imperiled maiden, and so forth. As in the original text, the only one taken in by Violante's disguise as a boy was Roderick. A different tack was taken in 2.4, when the Citizen offers to exchange clothes with Julio to provide him with a disguise: unfortunately, their outfits are very similar, down to the ubiquitous black cape; so the citizen carefully peeled off his beauty mark and gave it to Julio, rendering him "unrecognizable" to everyone, including his beloved Leonora. At the play's denouement, the assembled company gasped and took a step back in shock when he removed the birthmark, revealing his true identity. This ridiculous contrivance pointed up the equally absurd nature of so...

Vicissitudes, CA

Vicissitudes, CA Bryan Hurt (bio) 1 Brandon and Kara went hiking but were unprepared for the physical challenge. "Hiking is hard work," said Kara. She cupped her hands and drank from a limpid mountain stream. "But it's awesome," she said. "Nature rocks," said Brandon. They were in the San Gabriel Mountains and from their elevation could see Los Angeles and the smog in the distance. In Los Angeles city people lived in tiny apartments. The tiny apartments had tiny windows and the tiny windows had tiny curtains which blocked the prying eyes of neighbors. The curtains, sometimes, needed to be ironed. Brandon didn't own an iron. He thought about this. Nature, he thought, is good because it's simple and expansive. Brandon came to the mountains to find enlightenment. Enlightenment, he learned from his yoga teacher, could be found in nature. Kara thought Brandon needed stimulation. She liked him, she said, but was tired of his moodiness and constant napping. Kara took off her overshirt and sat on a rock in the sun. Underneath she wore a tank top that Brandon admired on account of her breasts. Kara has nice breasts, he thought, even if we are just friends. A cloud moved away from the sun and a yellow sunbeam shined on a nearby tree. "Look at that tree," said Kara. She pointed to the tall luminous pine. "There's so much meaning in that tree." 2 The next day Kara was sick with dysentery. Brandon visited her at the hospital. He gave her a bouquet of flowers and asked how it was going. "I have dysentery," said Kara, "because microorganisms have invaded my intestines via my stomach." "Montezuma's Revenge," said Charles. "The lesson," said Charles, "is never to drink from a limpid mountain stream." Great, thought Brandon, Charles is here. [End Page 33] 3 A few weeks later Brandon met Kara and Charles for dinner at a macrobiotic restaurant on La Brea. They sat at a small round table and looked at their menus. "I love macrobiotic food," said Kara. Charles said: "Macrobiotic food is my favorite." Brandon didn't know about macrobiotic food. He looked at his menu. What's seitan? he thought. "I'm thinking of ordering the tempeh with miso-cured tofu cheese," said Kara. "On the ciabatta?" said Charles. "It's a carb," he said. Charles was a personal trainer. Not so long ago he moved to Los Angeles from Orange County to expand his client base. This is how he met Kara. First she was his client. Then his girlfriend. Soon they'd be moving in together. "But I've lost five pounds," said Kara. "Because of the dysentery," she said. "In fluids," said Charles. Charles said: "Fluids don't count." Kara pulled her hair away from her neck. Her neck was slender and featured an array of beauty marks. "Then I'll get the seitan wrap," she said. Charles ordered the chopped salad. When it was Brandon's turn he couldn't decide. In a panic he ordered the tuna roll. But I hate sushi, he thought when the meals came out. Charles said something about politics. "I dislike the president," he said. "Garfield was my favorite president," said Brandon. "James A. Garfield?" said Kara. "President from March to July of 1881?" "From Ohio?" she said. "That's the one," said Brandon. He said: "I think he would have proven to be an effective leader if he'd been given the chance." Charles put his hand on Kara's knee. "That's funny," said Charles. "Garfield's killer, Charles Guiteau, is my favorite presidential assassin, and it's not just because we share a name." He said: "Did you know that Guiteau killed the president because he was sexually frustrated?" "How awful," said Kara. [End Page 34] Brandon poked his tuna roll. "Don't you agree, Brandon?" said Charles. "Agree?" "That sexual frustration is awful." "I thought Guiteau killed Garfield because he wanted to be ambassador to France," said Brandon. "Please," said Charles. He said: "Everyone wants to be ambassador to France." 4 The next day Brandon woke up to the bright morning sun shining through his bedroom window. He...

All patterns great and small: Researchers uncover the origins of creatures' stripes and spots

All patterns Jkgreat ^K&T and n Ms small ^^d^^r IM Researchers uncover the origins ^^^^^HfeH^'Mfc of creatures' stripes and spots ^^V^ By Tina Hesman Saey Howthe leopard got its spots and the zebra its stripes might not be just-so stories much lon ger. Biologists are beginning to pinpoint the molecular mechanisms animals use to deck themselves out with colorful swirls, stripes, spots and dots. Insects, fish and mammals may have different tricks. Butterflies and fruit flies, for instance, paint their wing dec orations on top of underlying patterns, such as wing veins. Fish may similarly arrange their colored scales according to a prepattern but probably decorate their fins according to mathematical principles laid out on a blank slate. And mammals' beauty marks may arise like those of fish?or via an entirely differ ent mechanism. British mathematician Alan was one of the first scientists to explain how color patterns might form. In a 1952 paper, he envisioned patterns as self assembling products of molecular reac tions created as two chemicals spread across a uniform surface. Turing's math ematical models could replicate any pattern found in nature, and scientists soon began hunting for the chemicals responsible for painting butterfly wings a d tiger stripes. But Turing has led biologists astray, charges Fred Nijhout, a developmen tal physiologist at Duke University in Durham, N.C. Mathematically it's com pletely correct, and there are some physi cal systems in which it can occur, he says. Tu ing formulated his theory before the modern era of molecular genetics, though, and biological systems don't always work the way his models predict. For one thing, skin, scales and fur aren't the blank canvases upon which envisioned color patterns paint ing themselves. Sometimes biology is a bit uncooperative because it uses more components than models tell us are nec essary,** says Sean B. Carroll, a develop mental and evolutionary biologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. ^ A team led by Carroll recently i found molecular evidence that

Commentary on Classic Articles from Issue Two of RSEQ's 30-Year Retrospective

I honestly cannot remember when I first understood the concept of disability or special education. I grew up a rural East Tennessee Appalachian community. This community included individuals with disabilities that I just viewed as different. Across the hollow was my next door neighbor Flo, a young adult female with cognitive impairments with whom I played dolls and whom I later tried to teach to read when I went to school. I had a church friend whose older brother, Brian, went to a special school because he had undiagnosed autism (he was identified as having mental retardation) and was our preschool Sunday school class. In the nearest small town was a wandering teenage male, Fredthe, who had cognitive impairments and did odd jobs for small business owners and who might sit down with your family to eat at the local Dairy Queen. For me, and the community which I grew up, that was just life. Later, when given the opportunity to be a graduate assistant a home-based early intervention program even though my background was English literature, I knew I had found a career about which I could be passionate. I never will forget the interview process for an assistantship that included a 2-hour car ride to a rural home where an 8 month-old with significant health impairments lived. Sitting on the floor of that home talking to the mother and holding the baby felt very natural. Later still, I was presented with a whole new set of challenges as a rural special educator of preschoolers and elementary students with severe disabilities. Though being rural most of my life and special education for much of my adult life, I am a relative newcomer to the American Council on Rural Special Education, attending my first ACRES conference Tulsa, OK, 2005. Finding ACRES was like finding a friend, or rather a group of friends, who also had a passion for rural areas, including warts, beauty marks, and all. It was a pleasure to see a group so dedicated to the rural issues that I had experienced when I was growing up and had come to understand even better as a home-visiting early interventionist and a special education teacher. The ACRES journal, Rural Special Education Quarterly (RSEQ), has become a favorite journal that gives me glimpses into issues and what others have found to work their rural areas. It was interesting to read the classic articles published this issue and to find that multiculturalism, family-centered approaches, and school violence were topics of importance the late 90s and are still of concern to our field. Multiculturalism and how to identify and serve children with disabilities who are culturally different than the dominant culture is still a concern today, especially rural areas that are changing culturally more than ever before. One theory for overrepresentation of individuals who are culturally different is that many live poverty, and poverty is known to increase special education rates (Coutinho & Oswald, 2000). The Federal government reported that, in 2002, 14.2 percent of the [rural] population, or 7.5 million people, were poor, compared with 11.6 percent of the metro population (Rural Poverty at a Glance, n.d. p. 2). Another theory is that special education referral and assessment is still biased (Coutinho & Oswald, 2000). With the 1997 and 2004 IDEA reauthorizations, research this area has increased since the Gritzmacher and Gritzmacher (1995) article and the Carter and Paez ( 1997) article. In 1995, the Mailory article discussed the need for a family-centered approach to early intervention rural areas. In the Fall 2009 RSEQ issue, Cathy Kea also presented the need for a family- centered approach, highlighting the value of practitioners understanding the culture of African American families they serve rural areas. This article highlighted that rural is not as homogeneous as it once was. …